Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 8 - update / results

Stats:  10/2 vs. 10/10
Weight = 173.0 / 168.6 (-4.4 lbs)
Bust = 39.5 / 38.5
Waist = 31.5 / 30.5
Lower belly = 38.5 / 38
Butt = 43.5 / 42
Hips = 42 / 41


So, after 8 days I've lost 4.4 pounds and an average of 1 inch off of most of my measurements.  

I've gotten into juicing sweet potatoes.  With carrots, spinach - they're simply creamy and yummy.

Raw juice does separate a bit...

But, it just takes a quick stir.  Yum, yum!

So.  Can you guess which is the orange strawberry, and which is the tomato red pepper?

Delicious cantaloupe and mint!

This weekend I had two weddings, and let me tell you... I did come prepared with a cooler, with tons of bottled water and a juice, but... it was really, really hard.  The smell of the food, and it was GOOD food (wedding food,) both the dinners and the cocktail hour food... not being able to eat it was really difficult.  Just when I was feeling pretty comfortable with juicing, the idea of eating super healthy afterward and having gotten rid of my cravings for "bad" foods... all of a sudden I was constantly thinking about food yesterday.  The groom was served taco bell (as a silly joke) at the wedding yesterday, and then all I wanted was taco bell.  (yes, it's nasty but I LOVE IT.)  Then I came home, and what the hell... Dan got Taco Bell for his dinner.  The smell filled the house... it was so difficult, and I almost felt like CRYING, I was so frustrated.


I put up the blog post, and made myself a cantaloupe and mint juice.  The mint was so powerful it overcame the residual taco bell smell in the house, and the juice was delicious.  After that I felt better, and I feel better this morning.


I freaking hate food addiction.






On the positive side... my skin is doing AMAZING.


I don't know if you guys really know about all the struggles I've had with my skin... Acne has been a major part of my life, (my brother has dealt with it just as I have,) - and it's the thing I'd always said I'd change about myself, even before weight issues.  I've tried every cream, ointment, toner, homeopathic method, weird ass crazy things to get my skin to clear.  Nothing has ever worked beyond temporary measures.  


Here are my results after 8 days:

Last night I found myself saying "I feel like this whole thing is pointless."




Well.. after writing this post... I am pretty sure I don't feel that way anymore.  I do miss food though.  I am looking forward to eating.  :)

~J

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 5...

Hello lovelies!

Well, yesterday was a FABULOUS day - I felt alive, full of energy, my soreness was completely gone, and I felt awesome.  Until, about 5:30pm.  At that point, I really started to feel hungry.  I made my favorite dinner juice (tomato, red and yellow pepper, celery, parsley) - and that satiated me for a while, but as I went to bed I really was super hungry.  Granted that was around midnight.

Starting weight:  173
Current weight:  169.6

Morning juice - I decided to go with a green juice that I call "Life Juice" - instead of my usual fruit.  This includes Kale, Romaine, 1/2 cucumber, 1 green apple, 2 carrots and a bunch of parsley.  It sort of tasted like drinking freshly cut grass.  Definitely a green taste, but still yummy.  I will try this again today but add a lime to it. :)

Here it is immediately after juicing before stirring it up:

After stirring, in my bottle:

I found out that there's a place in the Milwaukee Public Market by my studio that does fresh juices.  Woo-hoo!  It also happens to be one of my favorite salad places in the city.  I stopped by for a "green giant" juice, which was spinach, apple, wheat grass and lime.  It was super tasty and super lime-y!

In between I had 1/2 pineapple, two oranges and 1 golden delicious apple but forgot to take a photo of it because I drank it so immediately.  It was freaking delicious!

Final juice of the day was the tomato juice:

Oh!  And someone asked what I was detoxing from.  Primarily, caffeine (in a huge way.)  I used to consume MASS quantities of Diet Coke and around a half pot of coffee (at least) a day.  DAILY.  So that was where my detox symptoms (headaches, sore muscles, etc etc) were coming from.  In a fast you also are flushing out toxins from the foods you eat on a regular basis (chemicals used to grow or prepare the foods, all those ingredients we're like "wtf is this" to, etc).  

I was talking to Dan last night about how weird it feels to be doing this juice fast.  Not because of the actual act of juice fasting, but more about the long-term implications it has.  I didn't necessarily start this in an attempt to change my entire outlook on food, but in reality that's what is happening.  I don't want to put the work in, complete this 15 days and then go back and eat a pizza.  Or less "dramatically" even, go eat a sandwich.  Why would I reverse all the benefits I'm gaining?  Releasing weight, clearing my skin, clarifying my thought process and my mind, etc etc?  

It's honestly a little scary to try to think about what I'm going to do after the fast.  I know I'll start slow (obviously as to not shock my system,) with solid fruits.  After that I'll mix in salads and veggies, and perhaps some low sodium soups (or homemade soups, even better!)

Beyond that... should there be a beyond that?

Food for thought... 

~J

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 4...

Starting weight = 173
Current weight = 170.6

Only a -.2 lb difference from yesterday to today.  At least it's steadily going down.  But, damn I was hoping for at LEAST a half pound a day.  It's slightly discouraging considering I'm only drinking juice, people.

But, I continue on.

The GOOD news is that, despite the weight loss not being QUITE as amazeballs as I'd hoped at this point... my back pain is nearly almost totally gone.  I still am experiencing some detox symptoms (icky feeling in my mouth, coated tongue, etc) - but the headaches aren't happening anymore and I don't feel AS MUCH like crap.  My legs and back are still tight and very slightly sore, but I am continuing to stretch. :)

Yesterday I had a simple green juice (green apple, cucumber) for breakfast, for lunch it was a ton of spinach, one tomato and some carrot, then apple juice for a snack, tomato, cilantro, celery, red pepper juice again for dinner (I really love those...) and a really delicious cantaloupe and mint juice for a late "dessert"!

I had a few questions about the fast:

Q)  Are you following recipes or a program or a website or something?
A)  No - I just was inspired by the documentary and I decided to Google (it really is an amazing resource, ya know...) - there is a ton of information out there.  Seriously, just google search "juicing recipes" and you'll have more than you could try in a month.

Q)  Are you working out?  You should share that too.
A)  Nope.  I walk occasionally, I am a photographer, so I sweat my bootie off when I work, but other than that it's just stretching and I sit at the computer most of the day.

Q)  Is it freakishly expensive to juice?
A)  Well, produce IS more expensive than crap.  But can you really put a price on outstanding health?  I guess it just depends on your priorities.  Did I spend $30 at the farmer's market?  Yes.  Is it cheaper there than a grocery store?  Probably not.  Is the quality and variety better?  Hell yes.  Now, you CAN choose cheaper things to juice, that give you lots of bang for your buck (like romaine, cabbage, etc) - BAGS of apples instead of choosing varieties individually... but like everything it just depends on your approach. :)

Q)  Have you been getting any crazy cravings yet?
A)  I won't lie.  When Dan has a subway sandwich or I see food on TV, I pout.  But I don't really CRAVE anything yet, though the first day I really REALLY wanted walnuts.  (odd...)

Q)  Why didn't you start on October 1st so your fasting days would match?
A)  Uhm... Well, I'd never think of that, first of all.  Secondly, I just started on the day that worked for me, which was Sunday.  Saturday I had a wedding and it's going to be hard enough shooting through the two weddings this weekend without eating at them.

Q)  How's that green juice?  Green juice looks gross.  Green juice scares me.
A)  It really is good.  Seriously, it just depends on what you put in it.  A little apple or carrot goes a long way.

Q)  Can you give me some more information on this?
A)  Well, I can share my journey, (Hey!  That's what I'm already doing!) - And you can search the great wide interwebs for a huge giant plethora of information out there that I won't regurgitate to you.  (google anything along the lines of "juice fast" "how to start a juice fast" "starting a juice fast" - I promise, it's more information than I could give you. :D

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 3...

Starting weight:  173
Current weight:  170.8

Breakfast:
1 green apple, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 cucumber, 1 carrot

Then, Dan and I went to the farmer's market and got a TON of beautiful produce.

And even though I HATE HATE HATE beets... I've only ever had the canned variety.  The smell of them makes me gag, but Dan has convinced me to try a beet in my juice, because of their intense health benefits.

So, my afternoon juice started out like this:

(1 cucumber, 1 carrot, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 bunch bok choy and 1 bunch choy sum)

Went in like this...

And came out like this!  TONS of juice, this ended up being lunch and evening juice.

Oh, did I mention we found a yellow watermelon?  SO cool.  It tastes just as delicious.  :)  I will admit I ate some of the watermelon, but... I figure it's raw and like, 90% water.  So... yeah. :D

I decided to juice some watermelon, too.  Dan takes a sip of almost every juice I make. :)

It looks pretty, but doesn't taste nearly as good as one might think.  It's nice enough, but eating the watermelon with the crisp crunch of the melon makes it more delicious than just the juice.

Late dinner juice!

1 bunch bok choy, 1 tomato, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1 handful cilantro

(I know there are 2 tomatoes in this photo, but I only ended up using one.)

Not nearly as fabulous or savory as the previous night's tomato juice - whether that has to do with the type of tomato I used (last time was roma,) or the choy instead of celery... we'll find out!

SO!  Overall I feel pretty decent.  I had a very sore lower back and hips again yesterday.  It got so bad that I had a massage, and that seemed to help a little.  I am still sore today but not as much, so it seems to be getting better now.  The weight is coming off bit by bit, though honestly I was sort of hoping for around a pound a day.  But, slow and steady wins the race.  Including today, have 12 more days to go.

Today will be the first day I'm working while on the fast - I have an engagement shoot in two hours, so that should really be a piece of cake.  The real test will be over the weekend when I have two weddings.  That means not only working two long, hard days back to back, but not eating wedding food.  We'll see how it goes!

Hearts,
~J

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 2...

Total Weight Loss - 1.8 lbs

Hello all!

I'm feeling more awake today (so far, though it's just the beginning of the day.)  Yesterday I was out of it still, sleepy and felt super sore.  My hips / lower back / thighs in particular have been sore since I started, and are still sore again today.  It was actually so bad last night that I had to take some tylenol PM just so I could go to sleep. :(

I have woken up sore again today.  I've been stretching and drinking a ton of water, so I'm hoping to just flush out these toxins as soon as possible so I can get to the feeling awesome part.

Aside from that, I'm feeling good.  We are planning to go to the farmer's market today to pick up some more produce for the juicing.  Dan actually has been excited about the (fruit) juices as well.  He made his own apple and pear juice yesterday and loved it. :)

Yesterday's breakfast was this beautiful apple juice.

Lunch:  finishing the "too much ginger!" green juice from day one... after this we went on a nice walk.

Still gotta love the green color though.

Dinner was freaking amazing - tomato, cilantro, celery, red pepper.  YUM!  If there was ever a satisfying juice... this is it.  It feels hearty and it's delicious.  (think: V8 or Bloody Mary, minus the salt!)

So, here's to my third day today, and I'll be back tomorrow with another update. :)  Until then, Dan & I are visiting the farmer's market today, and I'm getting a massage tonight because my body is killing me.  Hopefully it helps!

~J

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Day 1...

Weight loss - .6 lbs

Yesterday I had a few tasty juices.  They were delicious for the most part, though I definitely used too much ginger in my green smoothie yesterday.

1:  Strawberry and orange (about 5 oranges and a carton of strawberries, and there was enough for this full pint, and a small glass for Dan.)

2:  Green smoothie #1.  This had all kinds of goodies in it:  1 head romaine lettuce, 2 stalks celery, 1 cucumber, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 green apple, 1 inch ginger (way too much,) 1/2 lemon.  This I drank 1 pint of, and have probably 2/3 pint in the fridge.

3:  I was feeling super hungry and did up a big glass of carrot juice.  Pure and simple, 5 carrots.  Delish! (this did fill up a full glass, I just keep forgetting to take the picture BEFORE I drink.)

So, those three glasses, plus 1 bite of a pear and lots of water and water with lemon was it for me yesterday.  After the carrot juice, I wasn't hungry at all.  In fact, I was bordering on feeling almost nauseous.  I wasn't sure if it was hunger or feeling queasy... but was just a mild "ugh" feeling in my gut.  

Aside from that, I was feeling VERY BLAH, and had a headache for most of the day.  I took a short nap and then went to bed at 11pm, which is pretty early for me.  Woke up today at 10:30 and my ENTIRE body is sore.  Legs, arms, quads, back, glutes.  I didn't work out, y'all.  These are (so I hear,) detox symptoms.  No fun.

So, I woke up, did about 20 minutes of stretching and took a hot shower.  I still wasn't hungry so I drank a glass of water.  It's 12:30 and I made a delicious glass of apple juice!  (Seriously, it's the most delicious apple juice I've ever had.  4 small honeycrisp apples... holy delicious.  It tastes like apple cider.  SO YUMMY!  

I'm hoping today is less crappy, but I do hear the first three or four days of juicing are the toughest.  So, here goes for day two!

~J

Juice Fast Extravaganza! Beginning!!!

Hello lovelies!

Well, I have lots of news and I haven't been a proper EHG, and I haven't been sharing.  So I'm back in full force.

Over the last few months I've definitely lost sight of myself, my body and my control over food.  I've been eating crap, and the weight I've gained is what I have to show for it.

I watched a documentary called Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead.  I highly recommend this documentary, and you should watch it if you enjoy documentaries about health, wellness, nutrition, fitness, etc.  It's about two men who juice fast for 60 days.  (wow...) and how it changes their bodies and lives.

I was so inspired, I decided to do an introductory juice fast for 15 days.  Not only to reboot my body, retrain my thought process about food and gain some clarity, but also for the inevitable weight loss that occurs, and to help my skin out a little bit.  (Juicers / raw foodists are notoriously glowing, pretty skin, sparkling eyes... I need that.)

Here is a "before" type shot of me with no makeup, showing my (eugh) skin.  Hopefully there is an improvement over the process.

From here I'll be updating every day if I can, to let you know how it goes, how I feel, and how it changes me.  Hopefully for the better. :)

SO.  Day one!  What I'm drinking here is a really simple orange and strawberry juice.  I have tons of produce and I'm ready to jump in with both feet! :)

Stats:
Weight = 173.0
Bust = 39.5
Waist = 31.5
Lower belly = 38.5
Butt = 43.5
Hips = 42